


Great Snake

by BlackMajjicDuchess



Series: Namesake [12]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Ancients, Death, Eternity, Fragility, Gen, God Complex, Mentors, Morally Ambiguous Character, Powerlessness, flattery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 08:11:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1420990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackMajjicDuchess/pseuds/BlackMajjicDuchess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I got the idea in my head one day to bring some of the Naruto characters face-to-face with the thing they were named after for the first time. I thought it might be fun. Also accepting challenges!</p><p>Stories will be posted separately but as part of the Namesake series.</p><p>Part 12: Great Snake</p><p>Orochimaru beseeches the Great White Snake Sage to impart his wisdom</p>
            </blockquote>





	Great Snake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [larryjc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/larryjc/gifts).



> To issue a challenge, just comment on one of the stories in the series with the name you'd like to see done. The only stipulation is that it HAS to be a name that has a meaning, and it has to be a meaning that is something one can encounter. Example: Madara means "spots." What the heck am I supposed to do with that? On the other hand, Naruto's name refers to some kind of fish cake, which is something he could confront somehow.
> 
> Orochimaru challenge from larryjc
> 
> Orochimaru = Great Snake

“I saw you,” he said, more to himself than anything. “I saw you as a child.”

The huge white snake took a strong drag on his cigarette. The glow of the ember flared and then died, and a great puff of smoke was exhaled, causing the glow of its golden eyes to intensify. There was a deep, gravelly rumble as the thing considered his words. “Hmm….” The sound emanated from the beast, careening and echoing off the walls of the tall stone chamber, redoubling in volume and caressing his sensitive skin. “And how are you so sssssure that it wassss me?” The thing hissed, amused. Its voice was slow and deliberate, every syllable exaggerated. Its head swayed back and forth as if caught in a passing breeze; but the chamber itself was stale, and no wind stirred within. Translucent eyelids flickered over its eyes as it blinked, regarding him.

He thought about it. Surely he had not been mistaken about seeing the serpent so long ago. He had the same feeling now as he had back then. “I just… I had a feeling. Not everyone is exactly as they seem. I'm an example of that myself. You were at the grave of my parents, but you were much smaller then. Still, it was you, wasn't it?”

The snake’s jaw twitched, and a fountain of ashes fell upon the gleaming white scales. The voice, when it spoke, was amused. “Yessssss, as it so happenssss, what you sssaw was one of my avatarssss. I have been watching you since you were very young. You sssshow great promisssssse, Orochimaru of the humansssss.”

He felt an intense spike of pride at his words. “Is that why you led me here?”

The snake laughed, a rumbling, gravelly sound that was harsh to his ears. “Did I lead you here? Or did you sssssimply find me?”

He wondered about that. It would be easy to believe that he were, as he so often told himself, a godlike being with ultimate wisdom. However, history had taught him otherwise. He’d never been able to forget the taste of Nawaki’s blood on his tongue when the poor kid had been obliterated by an explosive trap; he hadn’t been able to stop the boy’s death. He hadn’t been able to save his parents. He hadn’t been able to stop Tsunade’s torrent of tears when Nawaki, and Dan, had died. Was he the driver of his own destiny, or was he a slave to the whims of greater beings?

Because, looking at the massive, impassive serpent coiled calmly in the great stone throne above him, he wasn’t so sure. Was it Orochimaru who was the Great Snake, or was it this divine being before him? “What must I do?” he asked finally. “How can I be strong enough to stop death?”

The sleek muscles of the sage uncoiled, and the snake slithered down off his throne. Orochimaru felt the amusement through the senses of his skin. “You humanssssss… ssssssso… impatient. It is a ssssymptom of your fragile livesssss.”

“Yes!” he cried out, desperate for the lessons that this great being might impart. In his mind, he saw the broken bodies of the war that had tempered him. His team, annihilated. His friends, psychologically ruined. His parents, people he had hardly known and now would never get to… dead and gone. “Can you blame us? We are limited by our time on this earth. How many years have you watched us live and die, only to breed another generation of breakable, vulnerable bodies to sacrifice to the gears of war? Will you do anything, _anything at all_ , to save us? Or are you as cold as the blood that flows in your veins?!”

The snake ceased its travel, muscles quivering. It had been about to leave him, but at his words, it reared up. Orochimaru was humbled by its massive size, and wondered if it was thinking of eating him now, for his outburst. “You fool,” it said, almost affectionately, entertaining the stupid human and its silly questions. “The ssssserpent is the symbol of infinity. Why do you think that isssss?” It waited for an answer that never came. “I have alwayssss been here, watching you stupid humanssss die. You are greedy. You desire more from thissss world than you deserve. Why should I bother with you at all? Hmm?” He didn’t have an answer for that. Maybe it was easier just to die. “You are here because you have ssssseen your friends break and die upon the rocks, and you sssseek to bring a stop to that.” It paused, its forked tongue slipping out of its square jaw. The golden eyes were glimmering with malice. “You humanssss have a lifespan for a reason. It is just enough time for you to undersssssstand how futile your dreams are. Jussssst enough time to realize that your desiresssss mean… nothing. In the end, you will all die.”

The snake drew itself up even taller, blotting out the sun. “You will die… you will all die. And I, who have alwayssss been here, will endure, as I alwayssss have. If I do not teach you what I know of power, you will die. If I teach you what I know of power, you will sssssstill die. So why, fragile child of man? What’sssss in it for me?”

Orochimaru, humbled by the power and wisdom of the sage snake, had no answer for that. The snake summons and the sage itself were protected in Ryuchi cave. Whether or not the Shinobi world died screaming, the snakes would endure. Reptiles were the oldest living creatures, relics of a time before man, before the frail mammals derived themselves from reptiles and seized control of the world. Nuclear desolation and worldwide destruction had both failed to eradicate the reptilian species. If what the sage said was true, it would be the oldest living being on this miserable planet. What use did such a creature have for a worm like him?

The snake seemed to sense this, and its belly pressed back to the ground. It began its sinuous, slow motion away from him. “That’sssss what I thought. You are weak, and you are sssstupid... like the rest of your kind.”

Desperation flared. He had not come all this way to be turned away. So many already had died to bring him here, their sacrifices etched upon his heart. “THEN TEACH ME!” he burst out, flinging himself to the ground. It was dangerous, to look away from something that was that much more powerful than he was. The scratchy, rasping sound of scales against earth ceased. He didn’t dare look up, but he beseeched the serpent in a more supplicating tone. “Please teach me, Great Snake Sage. Teach me how to be wise, like you. Teach me how to survive. Teach me so that I can teach my species how to be strong and wise instead of weak and stupid, like we are. Without your help, we are doomed. I know this. I have seen the deaths of so many already, and will likely see the deaths of so many more. I will do anything it takes to make it stop. Whatever you ask of me, I will do.” His fingers formed a triangle, pressed against the ground. Hot, bitter tears mixed with the sand.

The serpent, if it was moved by his words, gave no outward sign. Moments passed. Then minutes. A being that had lived through an eternity and then some had no care for the instants of a human life. Orochimaru did not move, waiting for some sign that his plea had reached his superior. After a time, his body grew stiff in its supplication, but still he dared not move or speak.

At last, when Orochimaru feared his muscles must be paralyzed and the snake must have died at last, it spoke. “Very well. Come. We don’t have much time. If you do not learn quickly, you will die before you have learned, and I will have wasted my time. And that, young human, I will not tolerate."

The rasp of scales on earth began again, and Orochimaru followed him out. The teachings of the sage would not bring Nawaki, Dan, or his parents back, but maybe… if he studied hard enough… maybe he could protect the rest.  

Its voice echoed in the halls of its throne. "I don't undersssstand your kind," it admitted. "You act as if death isssss an option instead of a cccccertainty." It sighed, the tremors of its deep voice making his skin shiver in response. "But in the end... mankind will alwayssss be doomed, and my kind will outlassssst you all. Ssssstill, I must admit that I am... curioussssss, at leasssst." It laughed again, and he shuddered with fear at the sound. "How sssstrange you are, Orochimaru."

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. I think this is the longest it has taken me to come up with the content to fulfill one of these challenges. I hate Orochimaru and snakes are so... cliche. 
> 
> BUT. I think I did okay?


End file.
